CRE 41275/1
Mr MD BUTLER
My
Plenter
with rep.
3/393/1
DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND' INDUSTRY
+ venun
RIMA.
22%
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Downing Street LONDON SW1
Dear Nuchall
1 VICTORIA STREET,
LONDON SWI
(Room 448)
RECEIVED IN
01-222 7877 X545BREGISTRY No. 37
17 January 1974
24 JAH.374
Mh Hack MODE 3/393/1
How
night he
ચડ
لمن
16
De draft reply puss 124) MWE 3/393/1117731/21 21/1
I was interested to see your letter of 21 December to David Jordan and offer a comment.
2
Perhaps we cannot afford to be entirely realistic in talking to Hong Kong officials about the prospects for improving the GSP. It may be that Hong Kong officials themselves would not wish us to be too discouraging. My own view is that we shall have to keep up the pressure and I foresee an annual campaign in which the GSP is gone over and hopefully some improvements made. The Commission will play their part and we shall try to get what we can on for example processed agricultural products and a reduction of the list of sensitive items.
2
However to be brutally frank I think Hong Kong is likely to get less out of the Community than any other beneficiary. As you may know some of the ceilings and many of the butoirs are aimed to cut down Hong Kong's duty free access. This is inequitable in the sense that the working population of Hong Kong is trying to earn their living just like anyone else in an overpupulated territory. The pretext for the butoirs may be that holding Hong Kong back will encourage other developing countries to export but of course the real reason is that certain Members of the Community are frightened of Hong Kong competition and probably most of them take the view that Hong Kong is so good at doing what she does that she does not in fact need the preferences. I have heard it suggested that a public relations campaign in the EEC would help Hong Kong to overcome this handi- cap but I would not be too sure of the result.
3
Thus we should not ourselves be too sanguine about getting more than very slight alleviation for Hong Kong however hard we try and we should I suggest be careful about implying to Hong Kong that we can deliver more. The list of priorities you have solicited from David Jordan will have to be looked at in this light. It may be a temptation to offer assurances but as the Saving telegram 441 of 30 November showed there are dangers in doing so.
Yous realistically Marten Lav
MP LAM
cc Mr Radford FCO (ODA)
co Mr W Nicoll, UKRep Brussels